Land-Warrior Follow-On Planned for '04.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Position: New infantry equipment for the Army

Army researchers are seeking funds to develop next-generation infantry equipment that would be 45 percent lighter and significantly more efficient than the current "land-warrior" system. The project, if approved, would involve a three-year technology demonstration beginning in 2004.

Land-warrior was conceived as an effort to modernize the infantry force by turning dismounted soldiers into high-tech killing machines. It is a modular system that provides soldiers with night-vision capabilities, advanced computers and radios, enhanced personal protection, and a sophisticated new rifle.

But land-warrior, which has been in development for five years, has not yet been fielded to any Army units, and has been plagued by delays. The deadline for having a full Army unit equipped with land-warrior has slipped from 2004 to 2007. The Army, which so far has spent between $2 billion to $3 billion on land-warrior, plans to produce 34,000 systems. The Army requested $528 million for the program in the 2002-2007 budget. Current projections indicate that each land-warrior system would cost at least $10,000, without including the new rifle.

A soldier equipped with the land-warrior system would be carrying 92 pounds of gear and would have enough battery life to last through a 12-hour mission. But as the Army looks to become more mobile, faster, and more easily adaptable to new combat challenges, the infantry will need lighter equipment that consumes less power and lasts longer, explained Donald J. Wajda, director of technology and program integration at the U.S. Army Soldier and Biological Chemical Command, in Natick, Mass.

"We are looking to reduce weight and power requirements," Wajda said in an interview. "There are issues with putting more and more equipment on soldier's shoulders.

"We are looking at the next generation of soldier systems, the lightweight, low-power warrior," Wajda said. So far, it is only a proposal and has not been approved or funded by the Army. It would begin as a technology demonstration in 2004, and would be transitioned to a program manager in 2007. He could not provide specific cost estimates for the project, but said it would be a "significant investment."

The "lightweight, low-power" soldier envisioned at Natick would carry no more than 51 pounds and would have less than 3 pounds of batteries for a 72-hour mission.

The 92 pounds that land-warrior carries constitute the basic "fighting load," explained Wajda. That is the bare essentials a soldier needs to complete a mission, such as ammunition, communications equipment, water, ballistic vest, helmet, clothing and satellite receiver. The "fighting load" is what Wajda believes can be slashed to 51 pounds, assuming that more advanced technology will be available later this decade.

A review team will be selected by the office of the secretary of the Army this year to evaluate the merits of the low-weight, low-power warrior project, said Wajda. "We'll have a panel of experts, who will assess whether our vision for this ATD (advanced technology demonstration) and the technologies that it should include are sufficient to warrant the investment in such a program."

For "funding purposes," said Wajda, "we are considered a competing program to land-warrior. This is a complete departure from the land-warrior system, as we see it right now." It has a new uniform, new load-carrying systems, new electronics. The existing legacy systems "would be integrated," he added. The ultimate goal, he stressed, is "to really reduce weight rather than take a gradual approach."

Asked whether potential funding shortfalls in land-warrior would affect the Army's decision to support the ATD, Wajda asserted: "It's never simple."

He believes the two programs "are totally separate." The lightweight low-power warrior ATD will be "a new design, a new technology. It's not an iterative process to take land-warrior to the next phase. ... There probably will be some legacy pieces that we will have to interface with, but for the most part, we are looking at new systems."

But Wajda cautioned against confusing the lightweight warrior ATD with the so-called "Future Soldier 2025," which is a conceptual mock-up of what a soldier might look like in 2025, based on the application of new technologies. During last year's Army annual convention, there was a live model of the future soldier of 2025, wearing a tight-fitting black ninja suit. Army officials explained that there is no such program in place. The "ninja warrior" is only a notional system, said...